4.3 - Paper 2 Q1: Selecting four true statements

Read the task and its boundary

In the current AQA Paper 2 format, Question 1 gives eight statements labelled A-H about a stated range of Source A. You choose the four statements that are true, with a maximum of four selections, for 4 marks. For full marks, you therefore need four accurate choices and no fifth choice.

The range is part of the question, not a suggestion. If it says to read lines 1-7 of Source A, information from later in Source A or anywhere in Source B cannot make a statement true for this task. This retrieves two earlier reading habits: distinguish what the text states from what it supports implicitly, and navigate to the exact source and range before deciding.

Test the whole statement. A statement is false if even one important element changes the text:

Finding a phrase with one matching word is not enough. Ask whether the stated range supports the complete claim.

Model all eight decisions

Read the source for sense first: it gives key facts about a Mars mission. Then test A-H one at a time rather than stopping as soon as four choices look promising.

Source A: Perseverance on Mars

1. NASA launched the Mars 2020 spacecraft carrying the Perseverance rover from Cape Canaveral on 30 July 2020.
2. The rover reached Mars and landed in Jezero Crater on 18 February 2021.
3. Scientists chose Jezero because evidence suggests that it once contained a lake and river delta.
4. The mission searches for signs of ancient microbial life; it does not claim to have found organisms living there now.
5. Perseverance drills rock and regolith and seals selected material inside sample tubes.
6. Those tubes are intended for possible collection by a future mission and detailed study on Earth.
7. The rover also studies the geology and past climate of Mars.
8. The small Ingenuity helicopter travelled to Mars attached to Perseverance.

Statements

A. Perseverance was launched from Jezero Crater.
B. Perseverance was launched in July 2020.
C. Perseverance landed on Mars on the day it was launched.
D. Evidence suggests that Jezero once contained a lake.
E. The mission has proved that organisms live on Mars now.
F. The rover seals selected samples inside tubes.
G. All the samples have already been returned to Earth.
H. Ingenuity travelled to Mars attached to Perseverance.

An expert keeps the decision visible:

The selection is B, D, F, H. E is a plausible weaker choice because both the statement and source concern life on Mars, but it changes searches for ancient signs into has proved present life.

D, by contrast, accurately restates the evidence reported in line 3.

Guide the selection and diagnose traps

Use three temporary columns: true, false, and hold. For every likely true statement, point to the smallest sufficient phrase; for every likely false one, identify the exact word that breaks the match. Only after testing all eight should you count the true column and record four choices.

If your set is wrong, diagnose the layer before trying again. A wrong source or line range is a boundary error. A statement accepted because only half of it matched is a selection error. Misreading less certain as less severe is a comprehension error. The next action should fit the error: remark the range, circle the breaking word, or reread the sentence that controls the meaning.

For a full Question 1, make four final choices. In written practice, labels or clearly identified statement wording are acceptable; case, spacing and punctuation do not change their meaning. Repeating a choice does not earn a second mark.

In written practice here, if you give too many final choices, only the first four distinct choices are considered (in A–H order if your order is unclear). Each correct choice earns 1, a false choice earns 0, and there is no deduction. This is a practice convention, not an AQA rule.